WASHINGTON, DC – For the second consecutive year, the outlook for summer travel continues to brighten with more than three in five U.S. adults (64%), or an estimated 154 million Americans, planning on taking at least one trip for leisure purposes during the next six months. The percentage of Americans planning to travel between May and October is up from 61 percent last April and 56 percent in April 2010.

Today’s savvy job seekers need to maximize the tools available when looking for their next employer. Whether you’re unemployed or just looking for new opportunities there are several things you can do to find the right company or organization. The old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!” still rings true today.The best place to start is through your personal network. Make a list of everyone that might be of help to you. Even if someone is in a different industry or department, don’t discount them, they may know about a position or company that you haven’t thought of. After you come up with your list of contacts, put together your elevator pitch. Decide what type of employer and position you want and then craft a clear and concise mini-bio of sorts to share with your network. Call, email, take someone out for coffee or lunch, you need to draw upon all of your resources. Keeping up and involved with people is something you should be doing ongoing and not just when you’re looking for help. Reach out and try to be a resource to your contacts and you will be amazed at the opportunities that come up - often when you least expect it.

The National Conference Center has unveiled five secrets to knock the socks off your meeting attendees. According to Eric Whitson, Director of Sales & Marketing at The National Conference Center, “we all have that potential to deliver ‘knock- your-socks-off’ events; it’s a matter of knowing how and having the right tools and elements to make it happen!” While it is important to know how to execute the details, Whitson says “it’s even more significant to add modern meeting elements to activate and move your attendees.”

With the increased demand for face-to-face meetings and interactions, having the right conference tools and elements can help transform your event into one that attendees want to and need to travel to each year. Citing noted industry experts, The National Conference Center exposes five elements that can help you create a conference that engages the audience and creates word-of-mouth marketing from their mind-opening experience.

Any marathoner knows that running 26.2 miles is no easy feat, but the planning committee behind the race will easily say the same. The Greater Mankato CVB launched the inaugural Mankato Marathon in 2010 and it has since turned into an annual event. Each year the journey has been fun, yet challenging. After the last runner crosses the finish line; the pack of planners, lead by bureau president Anna Thill, look back over the race to learn how they can make the next year’s event even better. Here are seven lessons the team has learned so far…

One common goal of a conference or sales meeting is to boost morale and strengthen the team dynamic. To this end, teambuilding exercises can help facilitate such connections and alliances. Based in the Twin Cities, metroConnections has developed several unique teambuilding activities that are proven to get attendees talking and collaborating in a meaningful way. According to Pete Gnoza, Senior Sales Manager - Event Services for metroConnections, developing a special expertise in teambuilding exercises was a natural outgrowth for the firm, which provides complete services for meeting and event planners nationwide. He noted that during the last decade, many companies have streamlined their events and conferences, yet they still recognize the importance of activities that serve to build morale and teamwork. In response to this need metroConnections built a core expertise in a variety of unique team building concepts.